Sunday, March 4, 2012

Well, a few weeks ago, I was sure I wrote an entry for the
blog about our bees and their run-in with some vandals, however, at the moment,
I can’t seem to find and finalize that entry in my computer – aka the black hole of endless
thoughts and files of information.

Wild boar don't have the ability to pick up and throw stones...

But, as you can read for yourself from a fan of the farm in
this Dallas Observer story, our bees had a run-in with some vandals a few weeks
ago. Interestingly enough, it led to
befriending two youngsters in the neighborhood who seemed to take up my plight for
securing the “woods” area of my property – so long as it meant they could continue to explore and forage food for the family snake. Only in rural America....

It seems as though ever since the Dallas Water Control and
"Improvement" District No. 6 decided to put a sewer line though the back of my
property some 10 years ago and fail to replace property fence lines, the public has taken to the area as their own
private playground. Now, I can’t say as
though I place all of the blame on the public because the water district never
did replace my barbed wire fence when they were done. Why not, you ask? Good question. When my city’s public works department head
inquired with the water district on my behalf about the fence, they were told –
there never was one. Huh?

Well, sometimes you have to just pick your battles they say,
and at the time, I must have had bigger fires to put out because if you know me, you know if this was a battle I had chosen to take up, I would have made a lot of noise about it. Remember A Rooster's Tale? But, no one was bothering
anything back there and I honestly didn’t have a need for a fence because our
horses couldn’t access that area anyway.
There’s a very deep ravine, 30ft drop or so, and it had been cross-fenced years before to keep the horses safe.

Sadly, my "woods" have turned from a playground to a dumping ground.

This is NOT a road

Dallas County Water District #6 contractors left "silt fencing" to grow into the fauna - nice touch.

However, as noted above, over the years it seems it’s been
more than just the water district using this “right of way” easement. One morning this winter, I took some of my out of town relatives to the back
of my property to show them the bees and, well, just the back of my property;
only to find a family of several, parked in their vehicle and several all
terrain vehicles rambling all over the back of my property! Hey, wait a
minute!!

So, I meandered down the ravine and up over to the other
side to ask if they realized they were trespassing on private land, to which of
course, they replied, no. I had to
politely explain to them about the water district’s lack of responsibility and
ask that they not drive across my property anymore as it was ruining it. This land used to be a very beautiful strip
of basically un-touched prairie. Native grasses wafting in the breeze,
wildflowers, birds and oh the sound of the highway – which, I’ve now managed to
transfer in my mind to be the sound of a distant waterfall thanks to the
suggestion of a friend. (hey, it could
sound like a waterfall if you pretend!)

I remember when I was a kid growing up next door to Chicago
in a little blue collar suburb, that may as well just have been another Italian
neighborhood of the big city. We used to play in 1 of two “fields”. Running
around, climbing trees, burying our dead goldfish, and just exploring. Then, one day, they fenced off and built a
fast food restaurant on one of them. And
soon later, they put up a senior citizen facility on the 2nd
one. Our “woods” were gone. I felt the
loss as those two boys looked at me putting up posts, that they helped me pound
into the ground I might add. One asked,
very sincerely, can we still come over here?
I replied, "not with your vehicles".
I hated to give him an outright “NO”, because I feel for these kids
having all of their “woods” built up with cookie cutter homes and postage stamp
sized yards. It’s no wonder they all hang
out inside in front of screens. These
two kids, at least, still had a sense of adventure. In fact, they’d been out
exploring the day I met them. I had been laying
down near my brook, which only is such after a good rain, but this day it was
making that peaceful gurgling noise a brook makes that can lull you off to a
nap. Until I heard “BAM!”. A bb gun went off and woke me from my
slumber. I decided to get after that
fencing project I’d been putting off – right then. An hour later, they were helping me haul trash from the "woods" and pound fence posts into the ground and run fence line string while we shared stories about the land one of the youngsters' fathers owns in Kaufman County and my farm - of which they were quite intrigued. I hope to see them this spring for a visit - at the front gate.

A Young Explorers Dreamland!

So now I have 2 pairs of eyes on the back of my property,
hopefully helping me keep trespassing down to a minimum. And, maybe I’ve made two new young friends
who appreciate nature as it is – without tread marks running through its’
beautiful native grasses and wildflowers and spray paint, televisions and other
trash littering its’ woods.

Ratatouille – Dallas Fresh Veggie Style If my memory serves me correctly, the first time I was served ratatouille, it had b...

What Is CSA?

Community Supported Agricultureis a unique relationship between a local farmer and local consumers that helps minimize inherent risk to the farmer and provides transparency of food source to the consumer.

Members pledge an annual commitment towards the farm's budget and in turn receive a distributed share of the farm's harvest each week during growing seasons.

It's a way folks can help support a farm in their community and enjoy in the freshest, most local harvest around, and reap the benefits that come from having a local farm nearby. It is a great way to really connect to the food you eat.

See our website for more information on joining our CSA family and helping support the endeavors of Eden's Garden.

About Me

Eden’s Gardener is the owner and founder of a small, urban farm just outside of Dallas, TX. What started out as an investment opportunity to an entrepreneur, bloomed into something much different than what was intended. Touching many people in many different ways, this now farm from horse pasture, grows people as well as clean, nutritious food for the community where it is located.
For more info see "Where We're From" on the website at www.lifeonmyfarm.com.